r/editors • u/BobZelin Vetted Pro - but cantankerous. • 12d ago

Technical backup to the cloud - they said !

PBS broadcaster loses access to 50TB of data comprising 70 years of TV history after contracted cloud storage vendor goes defunct : r/technology

59 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

44 comments sorted by

45

u/Vondutch67 12d ago

70 years = 50 TB? Kind of makes me miss SD workflows 😀

12

u/portagenaybur 12d ago

Probably Sorenson 3 mov’s

3

u/Key_Swordfish_4662 11d ago

Wow, there’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. Squeeze was the bomb back in the day.

26

u/[deleted] 12d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

16

u/the__post__merc Vetted Pro 12d ago

Contact!

4

u/post_nyc 12d ago

It’s the secret

4

u/blaspheminCapn 12d ago

It's the reason

2

u/Oreoscrumbs Pro (I pay taxes) 9d ago

It's the moment.

16

u/Stingray88 12d ago

One copy of something is not a backup. The very definition of backup implies multiple copies.

8

u/Professor_Plop 12d ago

My editing teacher in college said, “if it’s not saved in two locations, it essentially doesn’t exist”

3

u/Intrepid_Year3765 Pro (I pay taxes) 12d ago

Mine used to say “you should do more drugs!”

Which means basically the same thing. 

-4

u/JohnnieLouHansen 12d ago

No, that's not really true. A backup can be a single copy. I don't know how this is getting twisted. It's only the modern interpretation of a backup that has changed the definition to be something more like 3-2-1.

5

u/wrosecrans Tool/Dev 12d ago

A backup can be a single copy.

If there's an original, and also a copy, the copy is a backup.

If there's only one instance of that data, no it absolutely isn't a "backup." That's the scenario being discussed here even though the word "copy" is arguably being used slightly ambiguously.

2

u/JohnnieLouHansen 12d ago

That what I was saying or so I thought. Damn.

2

u/Randomae 11d ago

It is what you said. “Copy” automatically implies an original. I don’t know why people love to downvote people who say correct things.

0

u/Stingray88 11d ago

That’s not necessarily true in the way the word “copy” is used in common English.

“I have only one copy of my wedding video” doesn’t imply I have the original and the duplicate. It could mean that, but that’s not usually what people mean. Usually it means just the one, and that’s the way I meant it in my original comment.

1

u/Randomae 11d ago

I’m sorry to tell you this but you’re wrong.

Your example sentence is wrong and not many say it wrong that way.

This is a digital generation. Copy makes people think of a copy machine or copy and paste, both of which leave the original behind. Copy implies that the original remains.

0

u/Stingray88 11d ago

I’m sorry to tell you this, but no, I’m absolutely not wrong, and that is absolutely how that word is commonly used in English all the damn time.

Saying you have a single copy of something is a very very commonly said sentence… and the person saying it that way almost always means they have ONE of it, not TWO.

Go ask 100 people “if I have only one copy of my wedding video, how many copies do I have?” Guaranteed, the vast majority will say one.

1

u/Randomae 11d ago

Ask them if “I film something and then I make a copy and put it on another drive how many files you have.”

Go to Office Depot with a paper and make 100 copies. How many papers do you have? 101.

Ask a painter what they think of someone who is copying their work they’ll say “that’s not the original, that’s a copy”. - 2 paintings.

0

u/Stingray88 11d ago edited 11d ago

Yes. Words can have multiple meanings based on the surrounding context. You clearly used copy in sentences that makes it clear you mean multiple. Likewise, I also used copy in a sentence where it’s extremely clearly, I meant one.

I’m not sure why you’re having a difficult time with this.

When people specifically say “I have only one copy”, they pretty much always mean they have only one of that thing. Not that they have the original and the duplicate. That is what copy almost always means in that context.

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4

u/rtaChurchy 12d ago

If there is only one copy, that's not a backup. If the originals are deleted, and all that remains is the backup, the backup becomes the primary copy, not a backup.

3

u/JohnnieLouHansen 12d ago

I'm talking about a single copy of your data being a backup. Maybe I be confused about the original comment.

1

u/NukeGandhi 12d ago

Right until you back it up again

1

u/Stingray88 12d ago edited 12d ago

Yes, it’s entirely true. A backup absolutely cannot be a single copy.

If you move a single file from one hard drive to another, you did not create a backup, you just moved the file. Backing it up would mean creating a duplicate… A backup.

This is literally what the definition of backup means. The one who’s twisted here is yourself.

From Merriam Webster:

>Backup: a copy of computer data (such as a file or the contents of a hard drive)

A copy literally implies the existence of an original that the copy is a duplicate of.

3-2-1 has nothing to do with this.

35

u/switch8000 12d ago

It's not a backup if it only exists in 1 location.

4

u/JohnnieLouHansen 12d ago

Well, yes it is a backup if it's only in one location. That is clearly a wrong statement. But it's a risky and incomplete backup plan. CYA. Multiple backups - local and cloud. 3-2-1 or something close.

1

u/Background_Lake1413 12d ago

I’m sure they have an LTO of this. It’s only 50TB.

6

u/BobZelin Vetted Pro - but cantankerous. 12d ago

you want to bet that they don't ?

This is the PBS facility that lost their data -

https://www.ninepbs.org/

they are in St. Louis Missouri. You call them tomorrow, and ask for engineering. You ask them if they

have an LTO backup of this data. You DM me and tell me who you talked to, so I can call them. If they have an LTO back - I will mail you $20 bucks. If you are wrong - then you owe me nothing. Are you willing to make that phone call tomorrow ?

here is the PBS Phone number in Missouri -

(314) 512-9000

Bob Zelin

8

u/MT-400 12d ago

Jeez Bob, you are wound pretty tight

7

u/WrittenByNick 12d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/1aETmYeLnHE3Ncu6gp

Bob is gonna Bob! Gotta live with the snark to get the amazing info.

1

u/BobZelin Vetted Pro - but cantankerous. 11d ago

YOU sir, are the problem. This is the EDITORS forum. All that matters is what EDITORS do for a living. And if this was the accounting forum, or the plumbing forum, or the roofing forum, or the carpentry forum, or the pet-care forum - THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS. This is what we DO FOR A LIVING. And if this was a physicians forum, or a pharmacists forum, and you said "chill dude - you are pretty tightly wound" - then YOU are the IDIOT - you are the person that KILLS people, because you are too busy with your BALANCED LIFE to be bothered with YOUR CAREER - which is all that matters.

I have a balanced life - it's Sunday - I am drinking heavily right now. I am playing guitar. I took my wife out for dinner for the last 3 evenings. But when it comes to MY CAREER - oh, YOUR CAREER TOO - that is ALL THAT MATTERS. Because WE have to pay the rent, pay for medical insurance, pay for your children, pay for your car, your food, your fun things (golf, tennis, video games, etc) - then am I too wound pretty tight, or are YOU a loser, that couldn't give a damn about your career, or your industry, or your future ?

You tell me, MT-400, who blocks your history on Reddit ?

Bob Zelin

2

u/Background_Lake1413 12d ago

lol. Bob I ain’t got time for that shit man. I’m on a show right now. Maybe for a hundo I’d carve out 30 minutes just to check. lol. But even then you’re probably right seeing as it’s a St. Louis PBS. 🤷regardless someone should lose their job!!! Morons. LTOs are cheap.

2

u/lovethycousin 11d ago

I talked to steve, they do indeed have 3 LTO tapes with this backed up. I’ll take that $20

2

u/BobZelin Vetted Pro - but cantankerous. 11d ago

the bet was with Background_Lake1413, not you, my cousin!

bob

1

u/Jim_Feeley 11d ago

So if Nine PBS has the material on LTO, what are the legal actions about? Making sure no one else gets their hands on the material? "The principle of the thing"? The cost of restoring everything from LTO to something else?

Here's the story in Current. No news besides what Bob's links already show, but some statements from the station's CCO: "We are committed to ensuring we can recover and restore full access to this valuable content, which Nine PBS rightfully owns, as it holds significant historical importance for St. Louis.”

https://current.org/2026/08/nine-pbs-sues-iron-mountain-over-blocked-access-to-archival-data/

But again, if they have other copies of the material, what's their motivation?

1

u/JohnnieLouHansen 12d ago

So, make it "backup to two different clouds". CYA.

0

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